1 Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to an animal feeding assembly and more particularly relates to an assembly for dispensing automatically feed to animals, such as fish swimming in an aquarium, at periodic intervals of time.
2 Description of the Prior Art
There are a number of automated assemblies making up the prior art. Most of these are complex configurations of timed relays controlling electric motors which drive augers, rotary disks or pistons across openings in feed hoppers. Their complexity necessitates high production costs. The great number of interacting elements compounds the possibility of malfunction, particularly as a result of the corrosion of electrical conductors by the humid or even wet conditions in which they must operate. In addition, most of these assemblies must compete with more essential devices of an aquarium set-up, such as heaters, air pumps and lights, for a limited number of electrical outlets.
There are a few assemblies that operate using evaporation as a time control and gravity as a means of motivation. For example, reference may be made to the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,900,022; 2,905,144; and 4,130,089. Evaporation is used to trip levers either by using a liquid in counterbalance to feed held at the opposite end of a fulcrum, or by tripping release mechanisms as a float, suspended on the evaporating surface of an aquarium, descends. These assemblies are generally bulky and require direct access to an open aquarium. In addition these assemblies require a great deal of fine tuning by their end-users to meet individual requirements.
Thus, it would be highly desirable to have an automatic feeding assembly that is a compact, durable, independent assembly which is simple to construct and operate, and depends on the most basic of principles for its operation.